Apparatus for crushing stems of vegetation



Aug. 15, 1950 wHlTLEY 2,519,304

APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING STEMS 0F VEGETATIQN Filed May 29, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-I HARVEY L. WHlTLEY awe/Mow FIG-5 Aug. 15, 1950 H. L. WHITLEY 2,519,304

APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING STEMS OF VEGETATION 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 29, 1947 HARVEY L.WH|TLEY QwvwWo b Aug. 15, 1950 H. L. WHlTLEY APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING STE-MS OF VEGETATION 4 Sheets-Sheet 35 Filed May 29, 1947 HARVEY L. WHITLEY gywc/wfom Filed May 29, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 V fl no 9 g V15 m a 1 All w 3 u 1 m g l 2 g u q. n a: g n 8 8 g a s 9 m m 0 r- 0 9 1514 F W I 1 A j i 0 LL! :0 N r l i 8 grwQ/nfob m m n g I m HARVEY L. WHITLEY Aug. 15, 1950 H. 1.. WHITLEY 2,519,304

APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING STEMS 0F VEGETATION I I U I MW,

Patented Aug. 15, 1950 OFFICE APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING STEMS OF VEGETATION Harvey L. Whitley, Fremont, N. 0. Application May 29, 1947, Serial No. 751,269

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a method and means for crushing vegetation such as the stems of tobacco leaves and other vegetation, such as hay, which is cut and baled by apparatus such as shown in my co-pending application entitled a Hay Harvester Apparatus, Ser. No. 716,400, filed December 14, 1946.

It is an object of this invention to provide conveying means for conveying vegetation, said conveying means passing between two spring pressed rollers which crush the stems of the vegetation so as to cause it to dry much more readily than if the stems were not crushed.

It is another object of this invention to provide apparatus for crushing the stems of tobacco leaves comprising a conveyor for conveying the leaves and a spring pressed roller adapted to press the leaves against the conveyor to crush the stems thereof, but being so spaced from the conveyor that sufficient pressure will not be allowed to be exerted to cause the leafy portion of the tobacco to be crushed, but only the stems which are much thicker than the leafy portion will be crushed.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus for carrying out the method of crushing the tobacco stems or for crushing the stems of any type of vegetation;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view taken along the line 33 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line 44 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an end elevation taken along the line 5-5 in Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an elevation of one side of the conveyor mechanism shown in said coepending patent application and showing a stem crushing attachment associated therewith;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged elevation of the upper central portion of Figure 6; I

Figure 8 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section and taken substantially along the line 8-8 in Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 9-9 in Figure 8 showing the blade in lowered or cutting position.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral It] indicates a pluralit of upright posts secured together by one. or more struts ll.

The top portion of this frame has an angular frame I2 secured thereto, and, near one end of the angular frame 12 are bearing blocks 63 and I4 in which a shaft I5 is rotatably mounted, and which shaft has fixedly mounted thereon a roller l5.

Near the other end of the angular frame l0, suitable upright brackets Hand 2! areprovided in which are mounted bearing. blocks 22 and 23 for rotatably mounting a shaft 24 which has integral therewith a roller 25. The shaft 24 has mounted thereon a pulley 21 provided with a belt 28 which is also mounted on :a pulley 2Q secured on motor shaft 3| of an electric motor 32 supported on one or more of the struts M. This imparts rotary movement to the roller 25. The rollers 25 and 16 have mounted thereon an endless conveyor 34 onto which tobacco leaves 35 may be deposited so that the stems may be crushed.

The vertical brackets 20 and 2.! have vertically disposed slots therein which are grooved on their proximate edges and into which tongues 4!] and 4| of bearing blocks 32 project to permitvertical sliding movement of the bearing blocks 472. The bearing blocks 42 have rotatably mounted therein a shaft 44 having integral therewith a roller 45. The roller 25 has a gear 41 secured to one end thereof and the roller 45 has a gear 48 secured to the end thereof immediately above the gear 41. These mesh with each other and therefore rotative movement imparted to roller 25 will impart rotation to the roller 45.

Each of the brackets 20 and 2|, as before described, having the bearing blocks 42 mounted for vertical sliding movement therein, has a transverse bridge portion 50 penetrated by a set screw 5! which is adapted to engage the lower surface of the bearing blocks 42. The bearing blocks 42 have projecting upwardly therefrom a pin 53 which slidably penetrates cap plates 54 mounted on the upper end of the brackets 20 and 2|. Disposed between the bearing blocks 42 and the cap plates 54 is a compression spring 56 which presses the top roller 45downwardlytowards the endless conveyor belt 34. However, the bridge 50 is disposed at such an elevation in the two brackets 20 and 2! as to prevent downward movement of the upper roller 45 below a predetermined point to therefore always cause its periphery not to touch the conveyor belt 34.

The above-described mechanism is suitable for the crushing of tobacco stems before they are strung onto tobacco sticks for a curingoperation, because by crushing the thick portions of the stems as well as some of the feeder stems, it has been found that by the time the leaf has been cured in a tobacco barn that the crushed stems will likewise be cured as quickly and thus it will prevent running the temperature very high in the barns in order to kill out the stems because they will be dried practically as quickly as the leafy portions of the leaves themselves, and thus, not only a great saving of time and expense will be incurred in the curing of tobacco, but also it will prevent fire hazards and other inconveniences and possible damage to the tobacco by running the high temperatures in the barns for curing the stems of the tobacco.

This method and apparatus for crushing stems of tobacco can equally be applied to crushing stalks and stems of hay and other vegetation which is cut and baled as disclosed in my said co-pending patent application. In the co-pending application, a conveyor is shown having side pieces, one of which is indicated in the present drawings as at I0, and this conveyor mechanism has a cutter bar indicated at H, and an endless belt I2 mounted on an idler roller I3 and also passing over rollers 74 and 15 where a roller indicated at 245 in said co-pending application winds the hay therearound, and when a roll of hay has been completed, the reel shown in said copending application is moved to place a new roll in position for the winding of another bale of hay. In said co-pending application, no means are provided for cutting the sheet of vegetation to cause a clean break at the end of one bale of hay and in the present modified form, means are provided not only for crushing the stems of the hay before it is baled, but also for cutting the web of hay when a bale is about competed.

In the present embodiment of the invention, it is evident that in order to cut the Web of hay there must be a space where the knife for cutting the hay will not engage the endless conveyor belt I2. Therefore, I have mounted in the side walls I this additional mechanism for crushing the web of hay and also for cutting the web when a bale is about completed. This modified form is indicated in Figures 6 to 9, inclusive, in this application.

In the side walls I mount a shaft I6 having fixed thereon a roller 1'! and there is also mounted in these side walls I0, for rotation, a shaft 18 having an idler roller I9 thereon. I also mount a shaft 80 in these side walls having an idler roller 8I thereon and the belt 12 is passed over these rollers so as to form a gap in its continuity for providing a crushing and cutting means. In the side walls 10 I also mount for rotation a shaft 83 having a roller 84 fixed thereon. This roller has a longitudinally extending groove 85 extending therealong for purposes to be presently described.

Immediately above the roller 83 is adjustably secured bearing blocks 81 and 88 to the side walls I0, and these side walls have slots 89 and 90 therein through which a shaft 9I projects after passing through the bearing portions 87 and 88. This shaft 9I has fixed thereon a pressure roller 92 and extending longitudinally of the roller 92 is a, comparatively deep slot in which is slidably mounted a knife blade 93. This knife blade 93 is held completely telescoped in the slot by means of compression springs 94 secured near the end thereof and having their other ends secured to spring perches 95 on the end of the roller. The ends of the knife 95 have mounted therein rollers 95 which are adapted to be engaged by cam faces 91 for moving the knife 93 out of its slot and to penetrate a web of hay or other material indicated at 99 and to penetrate slot in roller 83 to sever the web when a bale is about completed.

Sidably mounted on the shaft 9I is a pair of brackets I M and I 02 having the cam members 91 secured to their lower ends. These brackets I III and I02 have peripheral grooves I04 therein which are loosely penetrated by a lower end of a forked member I 05 pivoted as at I06 to a bracket I01 secured to the inner surfaces of the side pieces 81 and 88. The upper ends of the members I05 are also forked and loosely fit into a peripheral groove I08 in sliding cams I09 which have cam faces on their proximate ends which are adapted to engage cam members IIO fixedly mounted on a tube I2I fixed in the upper portions of brackets IN and I 02 by means of keys I23.

The cam members I I0 are fixed on the tube I2I by any suitable means such as by means of pins H4. The cam members I09 are slidably mounted on the shaft III. The shaft III has a crank I I5 mounted thereon whereby rotation can beimparted to the shaft I I I.

The members IOI and I02 are normally pressed away from the ends of the roller 92 by means of compression springs IIG disposed between the ends of the roller 92 and the members .IOI and I02. The upper ends of the members IOI and I02 are slidably mounted on the tube I2 I. The hearing portions on the upper ends of members MI and I02 are slidably mounted on the tube I2I. The bearing portions on the upper ends of members IM and I02 are keyed as at I23 on the tube I2I for longitudinal sliding movement thereon. The cams I 09 being keyed to shaft III will therefore cause the cams I09 to rotate with the shaft III, and when the shaft III is given a quarter turn it will force the cams I 09 away from each other because they are riding on the cams I I0, and thus the upper ends of members I05 will be moved away from each other which will move the cam members 91 on their lower ends inwardly into engagement with the rollers 96 to move the knife 93 outwardly beyond the periphery of roller 92, and will cause it to enter the slot 85 in roller 83, as they are timed to rotate together, and thus sever the web 99 of hay passing between the rollers 83 and 92.

Passing between the two side portions 10 i a shaft I30, and on one end of this shaft is mounted two sprocket wheels I32 and I33. Mounted on shaft 9| is a sprocket wheel I34, and a sprocket chain I35 is mounted on sprockets I34 and I33. A sprocket chain I36 is mounted on sprocket wheel I32, and this sprocket chain I36 is also mounted on a sprocket wheel I38 mounted on a stub shaft I40. The sprocket I38 has integral therewith an idler gear MI. The idler gear I 4I meshes with gears I42 and I43 fixed on shafts 83 and I6 respectively.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claim.

I claim:

Apparatus for crushing a traveling web of loose vegetation and intermittently severing the web, comprising an upper driven roller and a lower driven roller whose peripheries are adjacent each other and between which the web of material is fed, one of the rollers having a longitudinally and radially disposed groove therein, a knife mounted for radial sliding movement in said groove and having its ends extending from the ends of said groove, spring means normally holding the knife completely telescoped in said groove, the roller in which the knife is mounted having bearing shafts extending from each end thereof, a pair of brackets slidably mounted on said bearing shafts and each having a cam surface on its lower end, spring means normally holding said brackets in a position to cause their cam surfaces to be out of the path of the ends of the knife, and rotatable cam means for engaging the upper ends of said brackets for moving the brackets simultaneously towards each other to move their cam surfaces into the path of the ends of the knife to move it radially of its roller as the knife reaches a point adjacent the other roller to sever the web passing between the two rollers.

HARVEY L. WHITLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

